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by B-Elanna
Summary: slash TuckerReed Trip thinks he has a brilliant idea for the Captain's Birthday, unfortunately this causes problems and revelations he could not even begin to imagine.
1. Chapter 1

I am dead bored, being as I am currently an au pair in one of the most boring towns in Australia, so I decided to start a new ficcie and here it is.

I am Dutch, so beware of grammar mistakes – betaer /editor would be welcomed with open arms.

If you could leave a review, that'd be great, if not: thanks for reading this anyway :D

Disclaimer: I don't own anything jadajadajada

CHAPTER ONE

Everyone knows those days when nothing seems to go according to plan and everything you try just blows up in your face, literally sometimes in case of Lt Malcolm Reed. Today had been such a day. After a terrible and long night shift, he wanted nothing more than to sleep, sleep and sleep some more. Which would blissfully happen after he had checked his messages.

Within seconds the smiling face of Commander Tucker appeared on his screen.

"_Hello everyone. As most of you know in two weeks time the captain has his 40th birthday. To celebrate this accordingly I've come up with a brilliant plan, if I say so myself." _This was followed by a short chuckle. _"We're going to have something like an open-mic-night. To ensure of course that there are actually people performing that night, we have agreed that all of the senior staff is henceforth ordered to enter. No excuses are acceptable, you will see that in the following weeks your work schedules seem awfully empty. This time is to be used to practice, people. In cargo bay 2 and 3, sickbay and in the messhall at chef's request there will be lists where you can fill in your name if you want to enter. It's very important to add your talent, so people may join you, if you'd for instance wanted to act out a short play or whatever._

_Well I'm expecting a big sign-up. So please don't disappoint me._

_Oh, by the way," _his expression now darkened a bit. _"If you're so desperate to get out of performing to even consider telling the captain about this little set up, or you accidentally let it slip. Then let me tell you, you'll be very, very sorry the wrath of a Tucker is not a joyful thing to experience. Further more your colleagues won't be too happy either. This also goes for either unexplained injures or system failures, which may involve any of the senior staff.. _

_OK, that's it for now,"_ he continued, smiling again. _"Good luck to all! Tucker out."_

Malcolm sank further down in his chair and groaned out loud. '_Trust Tucker to think up something like this. _He fumed, _I need to find a way out of this one.'_

Threatening Tucker was his first idea… 

"I'm telling you Commander, my performance will be so long and boring that your entire 'party' will be ruined!" Malcolm told him, crossing his arms defiantly.

Tucker looked up from his padd with a smile: "Really?"

"Yes, I will do this boring lecture about phasepistols, hmm or perhaps phasercannons." Reed continued to threaten, stepping a bit closer to his target to make himself more intimidating.

"Well, it sounds fairly interesting to me though." Trip commented amused.

"Trust me, it isn't."

"Why, I thought you found those topics dead interesting? I'm sure there are other people out there wanting to know the ins and outs of those phasers." He said, smiling lovingly at the security officer, of course getting a glare in return. "Besides, if you make it too boring, who knows what your colleagues might think of you. This is the perfect way to stun them with your talents, Malc, of which, I'm sure, you have plenty." He added with a wink.

"I don't care what other people think." Malcolm growled.

"Sure you don't. Then why are you begging to get out of this thing, I wonder. See you later, Mal." With that he turned around and wandered away, leaving a fuming Reed behind.

Making up an excuse was his second…

"I'm really sorry, Trip, but it's my sister, she's in hospital. I'm going to see her that weekend, support my mum, you know." Malcolm told him, with the most saddest face he could pull off.

"Ooh you poor thing. You know what I'll make sure you'll get this weekend off, so you're there sooner, I'm sure they'll appreciate that. I'll also arrange for some extra free hours this week, so you can catch up with you practice time. Good evening Lieutenant."

"But…" _Argh Damn!_

Plain out refusing was another… 

"You can't make me do this." He said, arms crossed in front of his chest and his eyes spitting fire.

"Ooh, but I can. I'm your ranking officer remember." Trip replied, with the sweetest smile.

"So? This has nothing to do with my duty as chief of security or as Starfleet Officer. You cannot order me to do this commander."

"Really…, you know I could still file in a complaint about you. I'm sure that wouldn't look too nice on your brand clean record."

"Is that a threat?" the lieutenant goggled at his friend. "Trip, you wouldn't!"

"Try me, darlin'."

And once more the lieutenant was left behind, not one step further into getting out of this mess.

Finally he resolved to begging… 

"Please Trip, please don't make me do this." He said, with puppy dog eyes.

Apparently Tucker hadn't expected him to sink this low, because he did not seem as unaffected as he had done in his former tries. "I'll need a therapist afterwards. All my high school horrors will come back to me. It was dreadful. They practically dragged me off the stage and no one ever spoke to me again afterwards. I've gotten beaten up lots of times."

"Mal.." Trip started, unsure of what to say. "Are you pulling my leg, or what? 'Cause this sure isn't something to joke about, you know."

Malcolm looked up at him. He seemed sincere about the matter. Perhaps Trip would even give in and let him off the hook, but did he really want it this way?

"Fine you win, I'll enter your bloody open-mic-night. But you have to tell me one thing though and please be honest about it. Is it just for our crew or are you going to broadcast this thing around the globe?"

"Oh my god Malcolm you _were_ joking, you're awful!" Trip said in a mock shocked tone of voice.

"Please Trip, tell me."

"Fine, some of the captain's friends are gonna come over, but that's it."

"You swear?" Reed asked him, looking him searchingly in the eye.

"Sure." Trip answered laughing, while pretend spitting through his fingers.

"Commander, please, this isn't a joking matter. I really need for you to tell me the truth. If it is going to be broadcast or open for the public, I have people who will override your authority for me as it will bring my family and this ship in danger. So tell me is it just us and some good friends?" Reed pleaded desperately, grabbing a hold of Tucker's arm.

"Malcolm, what's going on? Is there anything I can do to help? You're not joking again, are you?" Trip asked concerned.

"Trip, answer my question please."

"No, no broadcasting or anything. Just the crew, some people of Starfleet Command and some friends. But Malcolm…"

"I'm sorry Trip, I can't tell you anything. You'll just have to trust me on this one. It has something to do with my past. That's all I can tell you, ok?"

"Alright, but tell me if there's ever I can do to help." Tucker told him, giving his arm a gentle squeeze.

"I will," Reed replied with a small smile. "Good night, Trip.

"Good night and good luck with your performance, Mal." The commander told him with a grin.

Ok, so in the end he did have to perform. The problem was he only had one and a half week left to come up with something smashing. He actually did in no time at all. He was a fairly good singer and he had no stage fright, whatever Tucker believed of him. He now needed to find some people backing him up, either vocal or instrumental. Checking out those lists Trip had mentioned in his message seemed the best way to start.

First he made his way to cargo-bay 2.

'Hmm, actor, mime, acoustic guitarist, violist, violist, dancer, dancer, comedian, ballet dancer, actor, drummer, electronic guitarist, piano player, singer, actor, writer. Ok, I'll check the guitarists, the drummer and the pianist. Let's move on to Cargo Bay nummero 3. 

What do we have here. Poet, drama queen – I wonder what that means, hand reader, expressionist – again question marks, actor, saxophonist, pillow fighter – riiight, reader, mind reader, stripper, comedian, electronic guitarist, flutist, bassist, horn blower – what kind of horn I wonder, and drummer.

_Ok, guitarist, bassist and drummer. Moving on._

"Hey Chef, could I see the list please."

"Of course Lieutenant, here you go. Please hand it back to me when you're done."

"Sure thing."

Let's see. Tambourine player, singer, actor, exotic dancer, actor, magician, flame spitter, singer, dancer, acrobat, violist, play writer, choreograph, clown.

Not much here… I'll take the tambourine player.

He took his own list back to his quarters, deciding that he had enough and didn't need to go to sickbay to check the one there, and selected the ones he liked. Luckily he managed to form a band that very same day consisting of two electronic guitarists named Michael Darwin and Yvonne Broome and one acoustic called Timothy Rogers, Franziska Charles was the drummer, Kevin Sanders the tambourine player and Alan Orion as the pianist.

They had now all gathered in Reed's quarters to discuss the more finer details.

"Okay now listen closely. Not under any circumstances is commander Tucker to find out that we're forming a band. I want him to believe I'm going to do a lecture about the ship's security."

"But why, sir?" Yvonne asked.

"Just a little bit of payback time for forcing me to do this." Malcolm grinned. "Therefore I've also taken extra security measures in cargo bay 1 where we can practice. I've changed the sensors, have installed some kind of forcefield and have put encrypted security locks on the doors. This way we won't have any unwanted guests and no one will know that we're there. Trip has no one to turn to but to me if he finds out that something is going on in cargo bay one, I am the security officer after all. So when he does, we'll just move to some place else, understood?"

"Yes, sir." They replied as one.

"Sir, what if he tries to encrypt the codes himself?" Timothy asked.

"Ooh trust me, he won't. He doesn't even understand the basics of encoding a simple message."

"But what if he turns to T'Pol?"

"If he does, I'll find out soon enough. There are some warning bells installed as well, which will go off as soon as someone has hacked through the first encrypted wall. But I don't expect him to turn to her though. Either way, we'll see."

In the end he turned out to be right.

"Malcolm, there is something I need to talk to you about, do you have a minute?" Tucker asked approaching him in the armoury room.

"I'm sorry Commander, I'm kind of in the middle of something here. Why don't you come back after my shift is over?"

"But my shift starts then. It's really important, Lieutenant."

"So is this sir. Why don't we meet tomorrow at breakfast?" Malcolm asked, hiding his grin. He knew all too well that by that time the Commander was probably still asleep. _Let's see how desperate he is._

"Can't, my shift ends three hours before breakfast, so I'll be asleep. What about lunch?" Tucker tried again.

"Sorry can't either, I'm having a meeting with some crewmembers." He only partly lied, he was going to do some practicing during lunch tomorrow.

"Why don't you come and have dinner with me tomorrow evening?" Trip now offered, getting a bit agitated by now.

"I have a night shift tomorrow, sir." Reed replied, biting back his laughter by now.

Trip let out a frustrated sigh. "Geez, how in the hell did we become friends. We can absolutely never spend time with each other!"

"Perhaps if you beg I'll come up with something." Malcolm laughed, his eyes twinkling with mischief.

"Oh that's what this is all about, is it Lieutenant Reed. Fine have it your way." He knelt down and grabbed Malcolm's hand. "Please Malcolm, will you make some time for me today. Please Malcolm, I'm begging you." He kissed Malcolm's hand to emphasize the silliness of the situation.

"Yes Trip, I will." Reed replied laughing, his face blushing. "Just get up from the floor you've made your point." He mumbled.

"Love ye, Mal. You're the best." Trip said, while jumping up and giving him a fierce hug. "I'll come by half an hour before your shift is over. See ya."

Unbelievable his scam to make a fool of the Commander had blown up in his face. Was he ever going to succeed in making him do some payback time, he wondered.

He looked up to see Ensign Van Tiel looking at him, her eyes wide as saucers. _How dense can you be, surely a three year old would understand that they were just joking around. She probably had never seen her superior officers act that way. Well news flash hunny, we are only people and we do joke around._ He gave here a small smile and stalked off.

"Michael, you'll never believe this!" Ensign Jeanne van Tiel, said excitingly to her friend., as she said down next to him at a table in the messhall. Several heads turned at her loud entrance.

"Shhh, what, what?" Michael Darwin asked curious, shifting his chair a bit closer.

"Commander Tucker just proposed to someone in the armoury and you'll never guess who!" she told him, clapping her hands twice in enthusiasm.

"Ensign Trombose?" Michael tried.

"Nope, try again." She said, grinning.

"Uhm, lieutenant Johnson?" he now questioned.

"No, no, you're way off. For starters it's a _guy_!" she almost whispered the last word, looking around carefully.

"Lieutenant Reed." Michael told her with confidence and a bit of amazement as well.

"Jackpot! Unbelievable, isn't it?" said Jeanne. "I almost died of shock when I saw it."

"Oh my God, you so need to tell me all the details." He begged his friend, shifting his chair even closer.

"Of course! Well, I only came in halfway through the convo, but I saw and heard all the good stuff. We were all in the armoury when the commander suddenly walked in. He went up to lieutenant Reed and they were discussing something for a while.

"At first the lieutenant refused him, but then, you won't believe this, the commander went on his knees and begged him to marry him!

So, then he finally said 'yes'. Then the commander hugged him and told him how much he loved him." She finished, still in awe of what she had seen herself. She tossed her hair back and awaited Darwin's reaction.

"Wow unbelievable." Michael let out a low whistle though his teeth. "I knew they were good friends, but I had no idea they were this close."

"I know, unreal isn't it? I didn't even know they swung that way. I can't wait to tell Melanie…"

"Hellow darlin'," a very familiar voice drawled in Malcolm's ear, a couple of hours later.

"Hiya Trip." He greeted him. "So what can I do for you?"

"Some people have been messin' around in Cargo Bay One."

"Ooh really? In what way?" Malcolm asked in a serious tone of voice.

"Apparently they are practicing for the upcoming party, because every time I try to open the door I get this automatic message, saying exactly that. But why would they do it so secretive, I wonder." Tucker told him worried. "What if they're planning a mutiny or doing some kind of cloning or whatever."

"Do you honestly believe that? I'm sure nothing is wrong. Have you tried scanning the room yet?"

"Yes, I have. Only I think they have done something with the sensors as I do not even pick up any life signs in there. I also tried opening the doors, but they're locked with heavily encrypted codes. Since I know you're the best code breaker on board and chief of security, I thought I'd better come to you." Trip said hopeful.

"Aah well, I'll see what I can do for you, okay. I'll get back to you tomorrow night." Said Reed with a smile. "You know you gave Ensign Van Tiel quite a shock with your antics this morning."

"Hahaha, poor her." Trip laughed "I'm sure she'll live. Hey, but I've got to get goin' to the bridge. Talk to you soon, ok." He added, looking him in the eye with a smile.

"Definitely! Have a good shift."

"Good night, Mal."


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

"I've managed to convince the Commander that I'm looking into it, so that gives us another couple of days. I'll try to stretch it as long as possible, which probably won't be too hard." Malcolm told the rest of the band during lunch time the following day.

"Do you still want to keep on going with this then, sir?" Michael asked surprised.

"Yeah, I'm going to get through with this all the way to the end. I thought I made myself clear in the beginning, ensign?" Reed inquired.

"I know sir, I just thought now you and the commander… uhm… never mind." The ensign trailed off, going crimson.

"Never mind what, ensign?" Malcolm snapped.

"Nothing sir. I'm sorry, sir." The ensign stuttered, suddenly finding his feet very interesting.

Malcolm gave him a searching look, before rolling his eyes. _What in the hell was that all about?_

The rest of the practice went without a glitch, the matter forgotten after only a couple of minutes.

Malcolm's night shift actually didn't start until 22.00 o'clock, so he had plenty of time to meet up with Trip in the messhall that evening. As soon as they both walked into the room, everyone fell quiet for a second, then the buzzing of whispered conversation began along with sideway glances.

"Do I have something between, or something?" Trip whispered laughing.

"Yeah, a huge lump of spinage actually." Malcolm joked.

"Ooh how very thoughtful to lemme know now, Lieutenant."

"All part of the service, sir." He grinned.

They both grabbed something to eat and sat down on a table in a far away corner.

"No but really Trip, what do you think is going on? Ensign Darwin was acting weird today as well."

"Let's find out." Tucker looked around the room and spotted a newly transferred ensign, just getting up from a table next to them. "Ensign Cambridge, could you please come over here?"

"Me sir?" she asked surprised.

"No your long lost twin, of course you!" Tucker said annoyed. "Sit down."

The ensign gulped and did as she was told.

"So tell me ensign, what kind of gossip is being spread about the Commander and me?" Reed asked with his most threatening glare. "And be honest about it, because if I find out you've been lying to us, well… let's just say you might be stuck as ensign for a long, long time."

"Well sirs, it's not a bad thing or anything, everyone is apparently just surprised." She began.

"Ensign, just get to the point, will ya." Tucker told her, really wanting to know what was going on now.

"It's about your engagement, sirs. Congratulations." She told them with a smile.

"Engagement?" they both said out loud, exchanging a worried look.

"Engagement in what exactly?" Reed asked carefully, fearing the worst already.

"In marriage of course. Ensign Van Tiel saw it all." She explained, still clueless to the fact that none of it was true.

"WHAT!" Reed furiously roared. "I'm going to bust her arse straight back down to crewman!" he tried to stand up, only to be held back by Trip.

"Thank you ensign, that was all." The commander told the now very frightened looking woman. Then he took the upset lieutenant by the arm and let him out of the messhall and to his quarters. There he poured him a very strong scotch. "Here you go, Mal. Sit down, ok." He guided him to the couch where they both crashed down. "So Mrs Tucker, that's about the most the outrageous rumor I have heard in my entire life time." He grinned.

"Mrs Tucker indeed. How can they believe that I just allowed you to shag around with all those alien women?" Reed wondered. "I would have showed you the door by the first signs of trouble."

Tucker just lost it laughing, almost falling of the couch. Tears started streaming down his face. "Oh my gawd!" he managed to gasp out between piles of laughter. "I can't believe that is the first thing that comes to your mind."

"Trust me it wasn't." Reed now snarled. "I would never want to be married to the likes of you."

This only made the commander laugh harder.

"I wonder when you got so dense, that you did not even know the difference between an insult and a compliment!" Malcolm continued annoyed, apparently focused on getting a rise out of his superior officer.

"Ooh come on Mal, can't you appreciate the humor of the situation. They believe you and I are married!" Tucker suddenly got a pensive look on his face. "I wonder what ever gave them the idea that we are in love. I mean I thought no one knew of my bisexuality, except the captain of course."

Malcolm gave him a surprised look. "I should have figured you were bi. You just shag everything that comes on your path, don't you?" He added annoyed.

"I do not, Mr Ice-cube. I wonder when you had you're last shag. I guess Starfleet Academy, but I might be too optimistic." Tucker replied, looking at him defiantly.

"That is none of your bloody business, commander." Reed blazed, putting down his glass with a bang.

"Aah bulls eye, ey." Trip retorted.

Suddenly Malcolm's mood seemed to change. His face became an unreadable mask and he quickly stood up to leave. "I'll tell my people tomorrow that it's all just a rumor. I trust you to do the same. Good night, sir."

"Malcolm wait, I'm sorry." He said, gently grabbing a hold of the lieutenants right arm. "I didn't mean to lash out to you like that. Whoever is going to be your bride, is a lucky woman." He told him truthfully.

This made Reed smile a bit. "Unfortunately there will never be a Mrs Reed."

"Malcolm! Don't talk like that! On this ship alone there are dozens of women interested in you. You, the charming, mysterious, sexy Brit."

"It's nice to know that there are women interested in me, I'm just simple not interested in women."

Now it was Tucker's turn to look surprised. "Wow! I'd never thought…. Wait a minute you're messin' with me, aren't ya?" He asked, pointing an accusing finger towards the lieutenant.

Malcolm only gave him a mysterious smile, before saying good night, leaving no room this time for the commander to rush after him.

Tucker stared at his closed door for a long time, before finally sitting down with a huff. _He must be joking, he has been raving about T'Pol for ages. That couldn't have been all a lie, now could it? And why lie about your sexual preferences, it's not like we're living in the 20th century after all._

From that night on Trip saw his friend in a different light, as a world of possibilities had opened before him, perhaps his midnight dreams would no longer have to stay just fantasies.

"Oh my God, Deanna! You won't believe what I've just heard!" Ensign Nancy Baker said in a rushed tone of voice.

"What kind of gossip do you have today, Nan?" Ensign Deanna Fraker asked, lowering the padd she was working on to give her, her full attention as they walked along the corridors.

"You know about Commander Tucker's and lieutenant Reed's engagement, right?"

"Yes." Deanna replied, her ears perking up.

"Well, today I accidentally walked in a heated discussion between them." She started.

"And? What did they say?" Fraker asked eagerly, while nodding a greeting to two of her colleagues as they passed.

"Curious are we?" Nancy said with a smirk. "Apparently the lieutenant is sick and tired of the fact that the commander uses his rank constantly to make him fulfil all Tucker's needs and desires."

"Wow, do you mean there's a bit of a dominance thing going on between those two?" Deanna asked amazed, halting her tracks.

"Yeah major dominance issues. The commander is the Alpha in the relationship, so probably also in bed." She giggled.

Ensign Fraker laughed. "I would have guessed it'd be the other way around. Reed the control freak and all. Either way, brilliant piece of gossip, my friend. I know some people who are dying to hear this…" she grinned.

The next morning Commander Tucker realized that he still had no idea whether Malcolm had been able to break the codes to Cargo Bay One. He wouldn't get a better excuse than that, to be able to visit Malcolm today.

"Tucker to Reed"

"Reed here."

"Report to my office at once."

"Yes, sir." Suspicion started to grow in the lieutenant's mind. Why did the commander needed to speak to him? This better be work related! He was too busy at the moment to satisfy his friend's curiosity.

He briskly walked out of the armory and into the turbolift. In no time he had reached his destination. Where he pressed the chime to announce his presence.

"Aah lieutenant Reed, sit down." Trip gestured him to a nearby chair.

He did what he was told, but remained silent, looking questioningly up to his superior officer.

"Malcolm, it's about last night. You…" Trip started.

But before he could finish, the other man had already jumped out of chair. "Trip, I don't have time for this. What we talked about yesterday was a private matter and I do not think we should waste our time on it, whilst being on duty! I would have thought, that you as a commander, would understand that!" he accused, unbelief showing in his eyes.

"Watch it, lieutenant! I am still your commanding officer!" Trip retorted sternly.

"Then stop pulling your rank on me to satisfy your own bloody needs all the time!" Malcolm now shouted back!

When Trip was about to tell Reed why exactly he had asked him to come here, he looked up to see once again a frightened ensign, who was standing in the doorway looking at them. Apparently she was just trying to sneak out unnoticed, but unfortunately to not much avail.

"Come back later, ensign Baker." The commander told her a bit more harshly than he had intended.

When the ensign in question had left, he turned back to face Malcolm. "If you talk like that to me again, I'll make sure to file in a complaint against you!" he said in a low threatening tone of voice.

"You…" the lieutenant started.

"Shut up! The reason why I asked you here, was not because I wanted to know whether you actually shag men or if you're interested in having a date or not," he started. OK, he had wanted to know about that too, but that wasn't the main reason he had asked the lieutenant here. "No, I just wanted to know whether you had found out anything about cargo bay one, as I have still not received a report."

The lieutenant had the decency to blush now, which made Trip feel a bit guilty as he had been partly correct in his accusations. "I'm sorry, Trip. I just assumed… well never mind. If you want to file in a complaint, I understand. I was totally out of line." He told him, bowing his head in remorse.

"Nah, it's okay. Just lemme speak first, before ya draw yer own conclusions from now on, K?" he said, with a smile, giving his left shoulder a squeeze . "Besides if you can gimme that report now, all will be forgotten and forgiven."

"Right, well I managed to break the codes and also check the scanners and there is indeed a group practicing for the party. And before you ask.." he continued, seeing that the commander was opening his mouth to speak. "they asked me to not reveal their identities as they want it to be a surprise."

"But how can I announce them then?"

Malcolm thought for a moment, before replying: "Just call them Seven."

"Seven? How unoriginal is that?" Trip commented, rolling his eyes.

"Well sorry, I just had to make something up here and now." Malcolm replied, annoyed.

"Are you sure they won't mind you just making up a name for them?"

"I don't care. They should be glad I saved their arses by not telling anyone."

"You're totally right of course. Ok that was all, lieutenant. Ooh do you wanna go to movie night tonight?" the blond asked hopeful.

"Asking me out on a date after all, commander." Malcolm questioned, with a mock glare.

"Phoo, if you think of _that_ as a date, then you have never had a proper one." Trip said with an airy huff, before giving him a wink. "Either way, you gonna come or not?"

"Can't tell yet. I'll let you know at dinner time, alright? By the way, I must warn you that by now there is probably a rumour being spread by ensign Baker that you're the dominant alpha in bed." With that he said goodbye, leaving the commander roaring with laughter.

The rest of Malcolm's day had been without a glitch. He even ended his shift only one hour later then he was supposed to, which was quite unique as of late. Actually today couldn't be more perfect as he had a semi-date planned with Trip as well. Unfortunately perfect days like this just didn't occur in his life, so in one way he should have known that something was going to happen which would spoil at least his entire evening…

At 19.00h a freshly scrubbed Malcolm sat down behind his computer to check his messages in a much cheerier mood than he had last time when we checked in on him.

His first message was from one of his academy friends, telling that all was well and that she was expecting another baby, well two actually. It had been big surprise as they had been trying for such a long time now and finally it had happened. Reed enthusiastically replied that he would try to get some time off as soon as possible, and couldn't wait to see her and her belly.

The next message was from the tactical alert group he was a member from, getting him up to date with the latest developments on armoury supplies and tactical instructions.

When he looked at the name of the last mail he was puzzled as to who it was from. He didn't think he knew a Mr Kuklinski. Before he could open it though, the door chimed.

"Who is it?" he called.

"It's me Trip."

"Just a sec," he quickly stood up and opened the door for his friend. "hello, you're early."

"Yeah, I was bored, so I thought why not bother Malcolm a bit earlier than planned." Tucker grinned, letting himself in.

Malcolm gave him a small chuckle. "I just need to finish listening to my mail and then I'll be with you. Just make yourself at home."

"Okidokie."

The armoury officer turned back to his computer and opened the message.

He almost tilted his chair backwards from shock when he saw the face appearing in front of him. It was a man in his late fifties, with black greyish hair, a big moustache, watery blue eyes which were set in an evil glare accompanied by sneer on his thin lips.

"Bloody hell!" Malcolm exclaimed.

"Well, well, well, my dear, dear son. How are you doing on this lovely day?" the man asked with an obvious fake smile. "It took me quite some time to find you. But find you I did, at last. You could not have seriously believed that you could hide from me forever." He sneered. "Trust me, I still have some friends here and there, and well, becoming a senior officer on the newest Starfleet ship isn't really low profile, now is it? I hope you realise that it will now be a matter of time before I find your sister and mother, and trust me I will find them no matter what, so the four of us can have a nice little chat about all the things you have put me through. If you're thinking of getting Starfleet involved in this, then my dear boy by all means do. Only do remember that you have no idea who you can trust and you might as well lead me to my lovely daughter and wife. Good idea, by the way, to get each one of you a different last name. Not that it will do you any good any more, but still, nice try. Either way, we'll have another little chat soon. I'm sure you're looking forward to it as much as I am." seconds later the flat turned black, before the Starfleet emblem appeared.

"Who in the hell was that?" Trip asked worried. He had heard Malcolm curse and had decided to check it out.

"My biological father." Was the short, distant reply.

"Wha… how… but… but I thought he died. You told me he had died when you were very young, that you couldn't even remember him." Trip asked confused.

"I lied."

"Ooh."

"I had to," he said with a sigh, answering the question he knew was in the commander's mind. "My mother, sister and me, entered the witness protection program about 15 years ago, when I was 14. It was a difficult time, they moved us to a completely different continent in a matter of hours. I had no time to say goodbye to any of my friends and family, even our dog had to stay behind. They told everyone we had died in a car crash, in which we were burned unrecognisable. I don't know whose bodies are buried under our names, because they did bury people. Either way we were moved from Australia to England that day and 'till now I had not heard from my father since. I suppose it was all too easy and too good to be true. He has been locked up in prison for 14 years for his deeds now, it's a surprise he hasn't located me before, but then again he must have been monitored closely and his reputation is severely damaged of course. He used to be one of the top men in Starfleet, you know." Malcolm sighed again and looked Trip deeply into the eye. "You must promise me not to tell this to anyone, not even the captain. No one is supposed to know but two persons at WPP."

"I promise, I really do." He said, hugging him tightly. "What do you wanna do now?"

"I need to find a way to send a secret message to my sister, but he will be expecting that. I'm sure he is monitoring all in and out coming messages somehow. I'm not too worried yet, as he can't do anything while he is still in jail. He wouldn't let anyone else hurt us, the situation is too personal for him."

"If I can make a suggestion?" Trip offered.

"Sure."

"What about if I just send a message to her from my console, telling her with some code words what's going on."

Reed looked at him thoughtfully. "I suppose it could work. It's so easy that he would probably hardly expect it. He thinks as I do, and I would have gone for some kind of encrypted message through one of the data-streams or something like that. Alright let's do it right now at message peakhour."

"Okay, does she know who I am, you think?" Trip asked, as he sat behind his computer desk.

"Yes, I've told her about you." Malcolm told him, trying to sound offhanded.

"Really, and what exactly…"

"Commander, there is a more urgent business we need to attend to now!" said Reed, quickly interrupting him.

"Right, sorry." He turned the pc on and started the message.

"Dear Alex. I'm delighted to inform you that Madeline and I are finally getting married. We haven't set a date just yet, but I will inform you as soon as we do.

It came as quite a surprise to me that our almost forgotten cousin wants to come as well. Perhaps you still remember him, his name is Philip and he used to live in Australia, but luckily he has moved to Europe now, so don't be surprised if he sends you a message as well. He's doing great. He apparently made some new friends and has still good contact with some old ones as well. You know I was quite worried when I didn't hear anything from him for over fourteen years, but thankfully blood is thicker than water.

I will contact you soon, when we have an exact date for our wedding. We want it to be as soon as possible, as we can't wait anymore to finally be united as one.

Madeline asked me to tell you, to not say it to anyone else yet and to reply to me alone, because we really want to keep it a surprise for now.

Say hi to Jack for me will yeah.

Lots of love,

Trip"

He stopped recording and looked around to face Malcolm. "Good enough?"

"Madeline and I are getting married? Gods, how in the name do you think of such things?" he wondered, rolling his eyes. "Either way, yes I think she'll understand what's going on. If not she'll probably contact you and ask for further details."

"Excellent, do you want to send a message to your mother next?"

"Can't, she died eight months ago. Let's hope he'll put all his effort in finding her next." Malcolm told him with a small smile.

"I'm sorry." Said Trip showing true compassion to his friend.

"It's fine. I think in one way she was glad, her life had been such a difficult one, you know." The armoury officer replied, with a shrug.

"Gods Mal, you're too much of a private person. You should really talk about stuff like this. It helps."

"I talk to my sister." Came the annoyed reply.

"Alright good, so what do you wanna do next?" Tucker asked, softly brushing a strand of hair away from Malcolm's forehead with his hand.

"Not shagging, that's for sure." He joked, pulling away.

"Geez MAL!" The commander laughed. "Trust me that was the last thing on my mind."

"I need to spend some time alone to figure out what to do next. I'll deal with it after the Captain's party tomorrow. I don't think my father will do anything irrational, until he has found all of us. Maybe he _does_ just want to talk, there isn't much else he can do now anyway."

"I hope ya right, hun. Shall I leave ya alone then so?" Trip asked, his entire demeanour showing that he wanted nothing more than to stay.

"Yes better do, I need some time to think. Also my shift starts at 4.00 h." Malcolm told him, effectively walking him to the door.

"Don't you think you'd better take some time off?" Trip asked concerned, unable to resist to touch his friend, so he softly stroked his back. He wanted to comfort him in some way, but the stubborn Brit wouldn't let him.

"And show that bastard that he is affecting me? Hell no!" Reed huffed. "Besides, I don't need time off, as it's nothing I haven't dealt with before." He opened the door. "We'll go to the movies next week, okay?"

"Sure. Just take care of yourself, alright. Wanna have lunch tomorrow?"

"That sounds nice."

"Brilliant! I don't have that much time, because of all the last minute preparations for the party, but I'll make sure to squeeze ya into my schedule ." He kissed him softly on the cheek. "Take care, alright? And if there's anything, just lemme know."

"Thanks Trip, good night."

"Good night, Mal."


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I've added a scene to both chapter one and two. Please lemme know what u think and if I should leave them out or not – thanks!

CHAPTER THREE

Lieutenant Malcolm Reed hadn't been able to sleep at all the night before, therefore he was now making his way to the messhall for some breakfast in a zombie-like state.

He grabbed a strong coffee and some bacon with eggs, before slumping down at a table in the far back of the room, hoping to eat in peace and quiet. He was soon joined though by ensign Travis Mayweather and Ensign Hoshi Sato.

"Do you mind if we sit here, sir?" Hoshi asked a bit too cheery in Malcolm's opinion.

"If you insist." He replied, without looking up from his plate.

Ignoring his reluctant tone of voice, they both sat down.

"So tell me lieutenant, what's your plan for tonight?" Mayweather asked curious.

"Seal myself into an airlock and hope to have a quick and painful dead." He answered with a sigh.

"Sir! You are not serious, are you? Perhaps you should go and see the Doctor or Commander Tucker?" Hoshi told him worried, patting his right arm lightly.

"Commander Tucker? You don't believe this nonsense of us being engaged, do you?" Reed asked angry, finally looking up now and giving her a fierce glare.

"No, no of course not sir. I just meant as friends." She replied quickly.

Malcolm's eyes dropped to the table again. "Good! And before you go to the captain: I was only joking, ensign. I will perform tonight." He added, rolling his eyes in annoyance.

"I'm glad to hear that, sir. Me and Hoshi are going to do this semi-modern dance, with influences of several major dance styles." Travis told him excitedly.

"Sounds lovely." Came the short comment. "Now if you two will excuse me, I have to get to the armoury. Good luck with your act this evening." With that he stood up and left, but not before bumping into Trip.

"Geez Mal, you look like shit."

"Thanks Trip, that was just what I needed to hear." He snapped, brushing passed him to continue on his way out of the messhall.

"Malcolm, I'm sorry. I.." Tucker started to apologize.

"Just leave me alone, alright. I'm not pleasant company to be with at the moment. I'll see you at lunch." He told him, entering the turbolift.

"But…" The commander tried again.

"Lunch, Trip!" he said once more, his voice reaching an emotional high pitch. He couldn't handle lack of sleep well. It made him emotional and very easily upset. The message of his father wouldn't leave his mind. He had replayed it several times last night, searching for unspoken clues, but unfortunately to no avail. Many ideas had come to his mind as to how his father had managed to send this message to him. One unlikelier than the next. He had probably just bribed at least one of the guards, so he could contact his friends in the world outside the metal walls he had been confined in for so long.

"Lieutenant."

Reed snapped his head up to find the captain standing mere centimetres away. He backed away quickly. "Sorry sir, I didn't see you there."  
"That's alright. I was just wondering if you know if they have planned anything for me to day?" Archer asked curious.

"Planned, captain?" he questioned confused, his mind still with his father.

"Yes, planned. Any surprise parties, stuff like that?" he inquired again.

"Ooh yes, sorry sir, you mean for your birthday? By the way congratulations, sir." Malcolm said, shaking his hand.

"Thanks Malcolm, yes I meant for my birthday. I would ask the commander, but I know he would lie to me anyway. So, I'm asking you, my security officer." He said, emphasising the last three words.

"Just dress up nicely, but casual tonight. That's all I will tell you." Reed told him, too tired to even care to think up an excuse.

"I knew it! I'll get Trip for this." And the captain exited the lift, muttering darkly to himself.

Ooh God, Trip is going to hate me for this. I so cannot use that right now.

He let all his thoughts go once he started to put all his attention into improving the phasercannons once again.

"Malcolm freakin' Reed! Get you're ass straight out here." Trip bellowed into one of the Jeffries tubes, making the lieutenant curse profoundly in reply as he hit his head on the console in front of him. Several seconds later he did appear though, looking very disgruntled.

"What is it now, Trip?" he asked tired.

"Lunch hour is starting." The commander explained.

"I'm sorry, the cannons are giving me a hard time. I didn't know it was this late already. Just give me a moment to put my tools away and we'll go to the messhall, alright?"

"Let's go to my quarters instead." Trip suggested.

"Sure." Whatever was fine with him, he didn't feel like putting op a fight. He didn't feel like anything at all really, but having a nice long sleep preferable caused by Phlox's dreamless meds.

"I've managed to get you a two hour lunch break, which you are going to use to _sleep_ under my strict supervision!"

"Commander, this is not my first night without any sleep, trust me when I say that I can handle it." Reed protested.

"Ooh yes, you're handlin' it perfectly and you know very well this is different. Knowing you, you'll be brooding every night for the upcoming weeks, until you have found a solution. Besides you have to go on stage tonight and I want you to be able to do the best you can."

"So that's what this is about!" Malcolm said angrily through clenched teeth. "Once again you're only thinking of yourself. You just want this night to go perfect, that's all what matters to you."

"Malcolm, you know that's not true. I care deeply for you. I just used it as an excuse to convince you, that's all. Now please come on and have some rest." He pleaded.

"Fine," he said with a sigh. He stalked off to put his tools away, before joining Trip again.

"How did you manage to get me that two hour break anyway?" Reed asked suspicious, when they started to walk to Tucker's quarters.

"Ooh, I just asked Phlox." The American said casually.

"You asked Phlox what exactly?" Malcolm started to get angry once more.

"If you could get a long lunch break to catch up on a bit of sleep, because you had been working so hard as of late. Geez Mal, you really do need to untwine. Do you really believe, I would have told him about your dad. Trust me, I won't reveal any of your secrets."

"I know, I'm sorry." He replied, before yawning loudly.

"See, to bed with you, my dear sir. Now please follow me." He said with a smile, as he entered his entrance code.

"Don't mind the mess. I haven't spend much waken time here the last couple of days. Either way there's a new PJ on the bed, if you need it. I have to get some final things organized for tonight, so I'll be behind the PC. Just gimme a yell, when you need anything, ok darlin'?"

"Wow, you have some trust in your persuading techniques, lying down a fresh pyjama and all." Malcolm commented, raising his eyebrows in question.

"Hello! Who could resist the offer of spending 1,5 luxurious hour in the bed of the most handsome fella on board?" he replied with a grin.

Malcolm just rolled his eyes, before heading off to bed.

"Malc, honey, wake up. You need to get to work soon!" Trip was almost shouting. He had been trying to wake the lieutenant for about a minute now, but he didn't react at all to his calling. Having had enough, Tucked grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him thoroughly. The Commander never saw the fist coming.

Trip flew backwards, his face contorting in pain as he grabbed a hold of his nose. "Jesus fokking hell, Reed!" he exclaimed.

Malcolm, who was awake now, looked around stunned, before realizing what he had done.

He jumped out of bed and rushed towards his friend. "Oh my God, Trip. I'm so sorry! I really didn't mean to. I thought you were my father, I was having a dream about him and I just assumed… Gods, are you alright?" he asked worried.

"No worries, I'm fine Mal. I think I'd better go and see Phlox though. That's quite a strong and fast right hook you have got there."

Malcolm, who looked pretty upset, nodded his head in agreement and helped his friend up. "I'll come with you."

They made quite a sight as they walked through the halls. Several heads turned to better take in the situation before their eyes. The 'engaged to be married' couple walking there with their arms around each other. It was hard to determine who was supporting who, as apart from his heavily bleeding nose the commander seemed alright, while the lieutenant, who didn't seem to sport any injures, looked like he was about to burst in to tears.

After what seemed like ages they finally arrived in sickbay.

"Commander Tucker and Lieutenant Reed, what nice of you to drop by." Doctor Phlox commented in his usually cheery voice. "How's the wedding planning going?"

Too upset to really care or understand what he was saying, Malcolm ignored him and said: "Doctor, can you please check him over? He has lost a lot of blood already."

"But of course, let me see." He replied with a smile. "Just take a seat here Mr Tucker and I'll evaluate the damage." He pulled away Trip's hands from his nose and gently removed most of the dried blood. "Aah well, you seem to have broken it. No worries though, if you just wear the casket I put on for a week or two, you'll be fine. Someone on this ship knows how to throw a punch." He added with a grin, casting a side-way glance to Malcolm. "Pre-marital problems I presume? You should know that I have been brushing up on human psychology, so whenever you need anyone to talk to…"

"That won't be necessary, thanks." Trip quickly told him, giving Reed a worried look as he was expecting another outburst again. But the lieutenant was just sitting, with slumped shoulders, on the nearby bed, sadly staring in front of him.

When Phlox was finished cleaning Trip up and putting the casket on, after painfully putting the bones back in place, the commander softly asked if he could have a moment alone with Malcolm.

"Mal, are you okay?" he asked, gently patting his knee.

"I'm really very sorry, Trip. I was having this dream about my father just showing up and trying to kill me. So when you tried to rouse me, my subconscious just presumed it was him. I would never ever hit you otherwise, truly." He told him honestly, while his eyes seemed on the verge of filling with tears.

"I know, love. It was just an accident. It could have happened to anyone." He brushed some strands of hair out of the Englishman's face.

"I'm really not like my father. I would never hurt an innocent person, whatever people say of me." He said firmly now, jumping of the bed.

"Of course you wouldn't, and that's why you're the commanding armoury officer on the best ship out there." Trip stood up as well and closed the space between them, stopping mere centimetres away from his face. "You know Phlox, is still under the impression that we are engaged. I assume you haven't told him the truth just yet then?"

Malcolm flushed a crimson red. "I didn't have the time yet, commander. The matter quite frankly slipped my mind."

"I haven't denied it to anyone either." He confessed, before quickly adding: "It's just much more fun this way.

"But Trip, we have to tell them one day soon though." The dark haired man told him, slowly inhaling the toxic scent which was hanging around his friend. No wonder he had slept like a baby in the man's bed, his smell alone made him feel perfectly content and wonderful.

"Yeah." Came the muttered reply, before Trip quickly closed the gap between them and kissed him softly on the lips. Totally forgetting Phlox, they finally let their emotions go and thoroughly explored each others' mouths. Malcolm was groaning contently, firmly putting his arms around Trip's body. This felt much better than he thought it would. Just when he started to deepen the kiss even further, Trip pulled away. Malcolm shot him a worried look.

"You're expected in the armoury." Tucker explained.

"Ooh fuck!" Reed cursed, trying to straighten his uniform and frantically sweeping the room with his eyes to see if Phlox hadn't seen them. "How do I look?" he asked.

"Damn hot, as always." Replied Trip with a grin.

"Triiip."

"Alright, alright." Tucker combed his lover's hair back in place and looked him over. "Yeah, you look fine. No evidence of thorough snogging." He laughed.

"Thanks, will I see you tonight then?" Malcolm asked.

"I kinda need to be there earlier then everyone else, but I'll definitely stop by before I get over there." He promised, brushing his lips against the lieutenants. "Now, no worries okay and just have a nice shift."

"Alright, see you tonight." With one last kiss they parted their ways.


	4. Chapter 4

Heya all, here a new chap, finally. I'm totally stuck with this fic, so it might take a while before I update again. Nice reviews always help a bit though. Thanks

CHAPTER FOUR

Before he knew it his shift was over and it was time to get ready for the evening program. The Band had agreed to meet up at 18.00 hours to practice one last time. He was hoping that Trip would stop by before that time, otherwise he would just see him at the Birthday Party itself.

He grabbed the things he would be needing tonight. They had agreed to just wear whatever they felt comfortable in, aka casual clothing. The song spoke for itself and didn't need a fancy presentation anyway. He brushed a comb through his lean black hair and with one more glance in the mirror started to head off to the cargo bay.

He was wearing slightly bleached jeans, with a simple black t-shirt, which was not too tight, but not too loose fitting to cover up his nice torso either. A nice black leather belt and shoes gave it the finishing touches it needed. He abruptly stopped in his tracks when he heard someone making a low whistle behind him. Turning around to give the person a good glare, he found himself facing Trip. "Tucker! Please don't whistle like that again. I am not an eighteen year old full breasted blonde, you know."

"You're not? Ooh the silliness of me." He grinned mischievously. "What are these then?" he asked, cupping the upper half of Malcolm's torso, pretending to inspect it closely. "They look like breasts to me."

"They are muscles, thank you very much." He grumbled only slightly annoyed, slapping his hands away. He knew perfectly well that Tucker was once again playing one of his games. He apparently found it quite humorous to get a rise out of his lover.

"I don't have time for you now, I am about to have a last minute rehearsal." Malcolm told him, sounding harsher than he intended, before turning around and continuing on his way.

"Mal-colm" The blond drawled, catching up with him. "Come on give us a kiss, pretty please."

"Piss off, Trip. I need to rehearsal alright. You don't want me to make a fool out of myself, now do you?" He pinched the bridge of his nose, and inhaled deeply. "I have just too much on my mind. If you leave me alone now, I promise thorough snogging later, okay?" he added the last bit with a wink, knowing it wasn't fair to vend off his frustrations on his lover.

Instead of 'pissing off' straight away he gave Malcolm a tight hug, whispering in his ear that soon all would be well, before indeed wandering off.

The rehearsal went alright, but not as well as he had hoped. His mind had been too far away to really sing the song with his heart and soul and you could tell. His band mates had been a bit disappointed by his performance, but had tried, and failed, not to show it and gave him encouraging comments instead. They, himself included, were all hoping it would go better tonight. _Fat chance though, _he thought to himself, as he strolled towards the mess hall. The sight that greeted him when he entered the dining area left him quite surprised, all former depressing thoughts momentarily forgotten. Whoever had been in charge of decorating the place had done a fantastic job. The mess hall was almost unrecognisable. All tables plus chairs had been removed leaving a wide open space, as a suitable dance floor, surrounded by high round tables and bar chairs. Malcolm noticed they had also done something to the lighting. Instead of the cold white/yellow light, soft shadows were now being spread on the walls by different coloured lanterns and blue and yellow Christmas lights that covered the bar.

A small temporarily stage had been built, where several instruments were carefully placed upon.

What amazed Malcolm the most were the number of people that were already present. They had docked at a space station yesterday for the ship's yearly check up. This was highly convenient as all invited guests could sneak in unnoticed by the captain. Trip had told him that he had roughly invited 20 of the captain's closest friends and former colleagues, but Reed could spot considerable more unknown faces in the crowd. They had not taken enough security measures for this multitude of people. The captain was a high profile person and the chance of him getting attacked was pretty big. He would have a hard talk to Trip about this afterwards.

The person in question showed up at that precise moment. "Hey babe, how are you doing?"

"Not as well as I would have hoped. Twenty people, Trip?" Reed asked, a little angry.

"I said roughly!" the commander defended himself. "I think most of them brought friends or family along."

"What if someone has something evil in mind? My security team has not accounted for this!"

"Relax Malc, it's just a birthday party. These are all Starfleet officers or very good friends of the Captain, trust me if I say that their minds definitely aren't set on killing our commanding officer tonight." Tucker told him calmly.

"I know, I just can't shake of this feeling that something isn't right." The security officer told him with a sigh, closely examining some of the unfamiliar faces around him.

"You're just a bit edgy that's all. Probably because you have to perform tonight." Trip smiled at him, touching his left shoulder briefly.

"Ooh, speaking of my performance. I am not doing that talk about phasers anymore." Reed started

"Phasercannons." Trip corrected him with a wink.

"Whatever. Anyway I have joined up with that band: Seven."

Tucker looked at him surprised and a bit suspicious. "Is this another one of your lies to get out of performing tonight, 'cause if it is…. Well, you just have to remember that the wrath of a Tucker is not a joyful thing to experience."

"Would I ever lie to you?" Malcolm asked sweetly.

"Hell yea!" came the immediate reply. "God the number of times you have lied straight to my face is unbelievable. I should have demoted you to crewman a long, long time ago. Unfortunately that would have meant that I would not have been able to spend so much time with your sorry ass, and that would have made my work here a whole lot less enjoyable."

Malcolm gave him a loving smile. "How I could kiss you right now." He sighed.

Trip grinned in return. "So what's your part in the band?"

"You'll see." Came the mysterious reply.

"Ooh darn," Tucker said, checking his watch. "the captain will be here any minute, so I've gotta run. If I don't speak to you again tonight: good luck with your performance, love."

"Thanks, good luck to you too." He replied, before quickly grabbing a hold the other man's arm, as Trip was turning around to leave, and pulled him into a quick and tight hug. Usually he wasn't touchy feely with one of his lovers in public, but his guts told him he would regret not hugging the man later. Tucker gave him a questioning look, but Malcolm only shrugged in return. "Everything will be fine." The blonde told him, before slowly walking away.

Malcolm scanned the room with his stormy blue eyes once more, before resting his gaze on Hoshi, Travis and Phlox, deciding he would join them for now.

Just like Trip had predicted the captain arrived on the scene only a few minutes later, wearing nice dark blue jeans and a green sweater, nice but casual, as if he had known what to expect. _Guess who's to blame for that. _Malcolm cringed as he pictured the lecture Tucker would give him, if he found out he was the one who had all but told the captain about tonight's event.

Archer had the decency to act surprise though, Malcolm noticed relieved, although he doubted it was convincing enough to fool Trip. The commander choose to ignore everything right now though and pulled his friend on the stage.

"Dear Jon," he started, speaking into an old fashioned microphone, which one of his engineers had quickly fabricated. "First off I want to wish you a Happy Birthday on behalf of all of the crew. Becoming _forty_, is of course a big deal, so we figured some festivities were in order. I'd say kick back, relax and enjoy the show!" the crowd applauded loudly, as a beaming Archer left the stage.

"Well then I want to thank everyone for being present tonight. This eve we have a diverse program planned. Chef has been so kind to provide all kinds of beverages and snacks. Anyway without further ado we will start of with a performance by the band Killburn, consisting of Don Mackenzie, Thalara Ursus, Gabriell Bruford and Mick Johnson."

Their colleagues gave them a thundering applaud as they climbed upon the three foot high stage.

Although Malcolm had been enjoying his evening 'till thus far, chatting away with his colleagues and the captain's friends, he was still constantly feeling on edge. His sixth sense, which he had developed during his years as security officer, told him that something fishy was going on. Perhaps Trip was right and he was just imagining things, but he highly doubted it. He had always trusted his guts in situations like this and right now they were telling him to be on guard and watch out for trouble.

He quietly slipped out of the messhall and contacted the armoury.

"Lieutenant Peters, here sir."

"Lieutenant, could you send some more security down here?" Malcolm ordered.

"Sir, is something the matter?" Peters asked surprised.

"Not yet, Peters, but I have the feeling there might be. How many man can you miss in the armoury?"

"Ensign Mortell and Lieutenant Anderson could come over, sir. They are doing diagnostic check-ups at the moment." Lieutenant Peters informed him.

"Perfect, send them over as soon as possible. Reed out." Malcolm sighed. _Let's hope two more security officers are enough to pretend whatever it is._

He casually strolled back into the messhall. It seemed no one had even noticed that he had gone. Before long the two security officers approached him to ask about their orders.

"I want you to report anything out of the ordinary to me immediately, however insignifant it may seem, understood? But try to act as inconspicuous as possible. I don't want anyone to find out that you two are on duty here," he ordered, looking at the both of them in turn.

"Yes, sir." The replied in unison, before each going their own way.

He looked around to see Ensign Darwin approaching him. "Good evening, sir. According to the program 'Seven' will be up after the next performance. The rest of us have all joined up for some last minute confidence boosting. Care to join us?"

Malcolm gave him a small smile. "But of course."

Indeed the other five had gathered together and were quietly talking amongst themselves. Only Yvonne Broome seemed to be truly nervous, the rest appeared relaxed and confident, all ready for the performance. They looked up when they saw the lieutenant and ensign approaching. "All ready, sir?" Timothy Rogers asked him with a smile.

"As ready as can be, Timothy. Just let's get this done and over with." He told him. He would be damn happy when this entire evening had come to an end.

Rogers gave him a knowing smile. "Luckily it's only one song, ey sir." He grinned.

"Indeed!" he agreed, before looking at the others. "Everyone else doing okay?"

They all nodded, although some only half-heartedly.

The band watched the rest of the other performance in silence, each trying to keep the turmoil they were feeling inside under control, until at last Trip appeared on stage again to announce their performance. "Ladies and Gents, next up is another band, whose practices have all taken place in much secrecy. Therefore the only thing I can tell them about them is their name: Seven! Good luck, guys." He locked eyes with Malcolm, as they walked passed each other on the stage. He gave him a bright smile and a pat on the back, before descending of the stage.


End file.
